


throwing my heart (catch it!)

by porque_nolosdos



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Ahsoka Tano Needs a Hug, Alternate Universe - High School, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Lots of Cliches, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, ahsoka is on the football team it's great, because I deserve it, but still no one is getting together while underage or immature, no beta we die like men, the age difference is smaller bc high school, this is the first thing i've ever posted pray for me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:48:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26553103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/porque_nolosdos/pseuds/porque_nolosdos
Summary: Ahsoka and Anakin are neighbors who meet after (quite literally) crashing into each other. The story follows them as they grow up together all the way to high school. Padmé is 3 years older than Anakin, Anakin is 3 years older than Ahsoka just so that this can work easier for high school. But still, no one is getting together young and strange ages. At least, not seriously together. Lots of cliches, lots of bickering, lots of emotions, and is the entire 501st the school's football team? And so what if it is?
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker/Ahsoka Tano, CT-7567 | Rex & Anakin Skywalker, Lux Bonteri/Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Plo Koon & Ahsoka Tano
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34





	throwing my heart (catch it!)

With one last line drawn into the sidewalk, Ahsoka finished the box with a satisfied grin.

The pale pink chalk stretched across twenty blocks of sidewalk. Four-year-old Ahsoka had spent all morning designing the elaborate hopscotch course with pieces of paper and crayons and then spent most of the afternoon bringing it to life. She would have made the boxes multicolored, maybe even add a few decorations, but instead decided that that would be an adventure for another day. For now, Ahsoka just wanted to ensure that the boxes were all the same size.

Ahsoka wiped the remainder of the chalk dust on her blue shorts. A part of her wished that someone was with her to see this great accomplishment, but  Plo was busy with work in his office and one quick glance around the neighborhood street proved the fact that Ahsoka would be the only one to witness her creation. Well, at least the elderly couple that went on a walk every day at seven would see it. That is if no rain washed it away by then. 

But no matter! Ahsoka quickly banished the sad frown from her face and put on a confident smile. Even if Ahsoka didn’t have anyone to play hopscotch with, she would still have fun. She’d have to find a suitable pebble in a few moments, but Ahsoka wanted to go through the course at least once. 

Ahsoka crouched down to retie her sneakers, tying the knot twice on each shoe. Her foster father was always reminding her to make sure that her shoes were tied. She would not let her moment be ruined by tripping on her laces.

She tested the wind. She checked which way her shadow was facing. She did a lunge or two, copying the movements  Plo made before he left for the gym.

Ahsoka blew a strand of hair out of her face and stared determinedly at the course ahead of her. She was ready.

With a deep inhale, she was off!

Ahsoka jumped into the first box, balancing on her right foot, and then jumped into the next two, and then leaped to reach the next box, which was 3 feet away (but had a secret bridge in case someone wanted to play with her and couldn’t make the reach) and then hopped from left to right, right to left, and then a few left in a row, and then a few right in a row, and then a tricky spin before landing on her right foot, and then the cartwheel portion (which was a secret from Plo), and after a few more hops, another secret handstand portion, and a leap or four, Ahsoka landed with her two feet on the ground at the end of the line. 

Ahsoka turned to face her hopscotch boxes and beamed, not caring that she was out of breath. It was perfect!

She thought about all the other kids she had seen in her neighborhood from time to time. They would love this, wouldn’t they? Who wouldn’t love this? Ahsoka wasn’t one to brag, but she had a hard time thinking anyone wouldn’t love this. It was the most fun hopscotch game that anyone could play, ever!

Ahsoka picked up a stone from the ground. She would test the course the traditional way and then she would go see if anyone else wanted to try it out. Of course,  _ everyone  _ would want to try it. Ahsoka paused. Wouldn’t they?

She shook her head and cleared the negative thoughts out.  Of course, they would.

Ahsoka tossed the pebble and it landed 6 boxes in. She quickly hopped over, hearing a distant whirring sound but thinking none of it, and balanced on her right foot in order to bend over and pick up the stone. She reared her arm back in order to toss the pebble and-

“Hey, you, catch it!”

Frowning and confused, Ahsoka broke the rules of hopscotch and put both her feet on the ground. She looked ahead of her and saw nothing but houses. Realizing the person shouting was behind her, she turned around and glared against the sunlight, only making out the shape of a young boy with his arms outstretched and a strange object in the sky- 

The falling object hit her first, crashing right into her forehead. A split second afterwards, before Ahsoka could even cry out, the boy crashed into her, tackling her into the pavement. 

Ahsoka blinked up at the boy on top of her. She was too stunned to do anything but stare and blink up at him. His blue eyes blinked back. And then they narrowed. “You let my airplane crash!”

Ahsoka pushed the boy off of her with scraped palms and scrambled to get up, ignoring the stinging in her legs. The boy crawled on all fours towards the fallen object, which was shattered against the pavement. Wires and pieces of metal decorated the pavement. Ahsoka couldn’t even tell what it originally was. He looked at her, his face aghast, “Look what you did!”

Oh, he  _ had  _ to be joking.

When the boy did not lighten up on his glare, Ahsoka figured he was not.

Sputtering, Ahsoka placed a hand on her chest as she responded, “What did I do? You attacked me  _ two times!”  _ For an extra effect, she held up two fingers.

The boy was crouched on the ground, trying to gather as much of the aircraft as he could. “I warned you to catch it. It’s not my fault you don’t have ears,” he said without looking up.

With a harrumph, Ahsoka crossed her arms and scowled down at the boy. “And what’s your excuse for running me over? Your eyes don’t work or something? You don’t have eyes?” 

Cradling the pieces in his arms, the boy stood up and marched over to Ahsoka. While he couldn’t be more than 7, he towered over her. She didn’t let that deter her, and placed her hands on her hips and glared up at him as he said, “Do you know how hard it was to make this?” He jostled the bits and pieces in his arm. “I was trying to catch it. You were the one who got in the way!”

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. She couldn’t believe she had been hit in the head and then tackled to the ground, only to get yelled at. “Why would you make something only for it to fall? That’s dumb.” She would have used the word “stupid” but  Plo would be disappointed if he found out, so she settled for calling it dumb instead.

Before Ahsoka even said it was dumb, the boy looked deeply offended. “I didn’t make it so it would fall, it was a  _ plane  _ before you got into the way and then didn’t even try to catch it.”

She dramatically gestured to the pavement where Ahsoka had supposedly ‘got into the way’. “It’s a sidewalk, dummy, anyone can go on a sidewalk! That’s not getting in the way. Besides,” Ahsoka sniffed, tossing her head, “you were the one who made a bad plane.”

“You try making a plane from scratch and see how that works out for you,” the boy shot back. Holding out the bits and pieces towards her. “Do it. Right now. I dare you.”

Ahsoka scrunched her nose. “No way. I don’t have a weird obsession with things that fly in the sky.”

Now the boy looked more astonished than anything else. “How can you not like things that fly? They’re super cool, and you can see everything when you’re up in the sky-”

“Alright, Sky Guy,” Ahsoka cut him off, noticing that there was now blood coming out of the scrapes on her hands. “You’re still the one who tackled me to the ground, and now  _ look! _ ” She shoved her hands in his face.

It was his turn to look disgusted. “There’s no need to get all  _ snippy  _ with me _ ,  _ it’s not as if you were badly injured or anything. And I wasn’t trying to tackle you, I was trying to catch my airplane! You were the one who got in the way.”

Ahsoka gestured to the smudged pink lines on the sidewalk. She would have to go over them with chalk again, except she would need to get bandages for her hands first, and  Plo might not even let her go back outside! “Yeah, and you totally messed up my hopscotch game!”

The boy scoffed. “So what? It’s not as if there’s anyone else to care about it.”

Ahsoka sucked in a breath but she refused to cry. She didn’t cry about the scrapes and she would not cry about this. How dare he! “I was going to get people before I was rudely shoved into the ground,” she yelled, her voice slowly getting higher and higher.

He gestured to the broken airplane with his chin. “You can remake a hopscotch game at any time, do you know how long it took for me to make this?”

“No, and I don’t care,” Ahsoka said defiantly, crossing her arms and jutting her chin out. “You’re mean.”

The boy gaped at her; his mouth wide open. It was obvious that this had offended him more than any other thing Ahsoka had said about him and his plane. “What? I am not-  _ you're  _ the mean one. That’s a mean thing to say. Say you’re sorry!”

Ahsoka haughtily sniffed her nose at him, looking away. “Not until you say sorry for hitting me, pushing me, and then yelling at me.”

“I didn’t yell-”

Ahsoka’s voice was shrill. “Say you’re sorry!”

The boy jumped, dropping a few of his pieces. “Alright, alright.” He sighed and looked up to the sky, as if asking it if he was really doing this. He did not look at her as he said, “I’m sorry.”

She still refused to look at him. “For?”

“For pushing and hitting you.”

“And?”

He sighed. “And for being mean,” he mumbled, casting his eyes down. “I’m sorry for being mean.” He looked up at Ahsoka sheepishly and made a face, unsure of what to say after the apology.

Ahsoka met his eyes, her anger disappearing. She blinked. His blue eyes blinked back. She smiled, grateful for the apology, even if she did have to yank it from him.

Tentatively, the boy smiled back. It was a nice smile, but he was missing a tooth. Ahsoka didn’t know that could happen. Completely forgetting about their argument, she asked, “Where did your tooth go?”

The boy didn’t seem to care about the sudden topic change. “I ate it.”

Ahsoka was appalled. She couldn’t imagine eating one of her teeth. She nudged her bottom teeth with her tongue, as if expecting they would fall out from the pressure. “How did you eat your teeth?”

He shrugged. “I was eating chicken and then it was gone. I had to write a letter to the Tooth Fairy to explain what happened so that I would still get money.”

The Tooth Fairy? Ahsoka had never heard of such a thing. “Who’s that?”

After getting over his initial shock about her not knowing about such a popular icon, the aspiring engineer explained to her about losing teeth so the big ones can come in, and the mystical fairy that took the old teeth and left behind money.

Ahsoka’s eyes were as wide as saucers when she heard about the fairy leaving money under kid’s pillows. “Wow! She gives you free money?”

“It’s not free, she gets your teeth in return.”

Ahsoka clamped a hand over her mouth, struck with fear. Speaking through her hand, she voiced her concerns. “What if the fairy doesn’t want to wait for when they fall out and she comes and takes them all from my mouth? I won’t have any teeth left!”

The boy considered this. “She would still leave behind money,” he decided. “It’s only fair.”

Fear continued to grow within Ahsoka. She didn’t want some fairy in her mouth and stealing all her teeth! “I don’t want money!” Ahsoka wailed, her hand still over her mouth, “She can’t take them all at once, I won’t let her!”

In response, the boy dropped the pile of broken airplane pieces on the corner of the closest driveway and then sat in the grass next to the sidewalk, his hands propped behind his back so he could properly watch Ahsoka freak out. “How are you going to stop her? She has magic.”

He wasn’t mocking her, Ahsoka knew. It was a valid question and a good point. She wracked her brain, trying to come up with a plan, and then let out a triumphant, “Aha!” She uncovered her mouth in order to clearly explain her brilliant idea. “I’ll cut up bits of marshmallows so that they look like teeth and I’ll stay up all night so that when she comes, I’ll trap her!” she said deviously. “But then we’ll talk and I’ll ask her super nicely to not steal my teeth before they fall out, and she’ll say yes!”

Ahsoka smiled proudly at the seated child, expecting a positive response. Perhaps a “Great idea!” or a “Wow, you’re really smart!”

Instead, the boy shifted so that he was sitting with his legs crossed, his hand propping up his chin. “But the Tooth Fairy only comes when you’re sleeping.”

Ahsoka’s smile fell. “Then....” She trailed off, trying to think of a reasonable solution. “I’ll set up an alarm so that when she comes into my room, I’ll wake up!”

Still, the boy didn’t look convinced. “Maybe just wait for her to come for your teeth and then fight her off?”

“You said it yourself!” Ahsoka cried out, the panic returning. “She has magic, how can I fight magic?”

He shrugged. “Guess you’ll lose all your teeth then.”

_ “What?”  _ Ahsoka was devastated at the very thought. She refused to even think too much about it. “Maybe she’ll come and steal all of  _ your  _ teeth.”

The boy looked unconcerned by the idea. “I think if she wanted to do that, she would have done it to someone already.”

The idea calmed Ahsoka down immediately. If the fairy did have a track record of stealing someone’s teeth all at once, she surely would have heard about it by now. “I better not be the first,” she mumbled. It would be just her luck if she was the first one to have all her teeth stolen.

The boy no longer was listening, his gaze fixated on the concrete covered in pink. He looked up and down at the sidewalk where the hopscotch trail began and ended. He pointed at one of the bridges. “What’s that for? I thought hopscotch just had boxes.”

Ahsoka no longer cared about the Tooth Fairy stealing any teeth. All her worries were replaced with excitement. He was asking about her hopscotch course! She would have someone to play the game with.

“That’s a cartwheel bridge,” Ahsoka explained animatedly, “that means when you reach it, instead of hopping, you do a cartwheel. And over here-” She pointed at another stretch of chalk. “- is where you do a handstand. I keep trying to do a handstand and walk but I always fall over so doing just a handstand is fine. This sign means you spin, this one means you have to go backwards, and this one means to switch to the other foot.”

To Ahsoka’s delight, the boy looked impressed. “A cartwheel? This sounds pretty fun.” 

Ahsoka could barely contain her glee. Someone wanted to play with her! “Would you like to play with me?” The question was calmly asked, but internally Ahsoka was silently begging him to say yes.

“Sure.” Ahsoka nearly jumped for joy and was about to settle for a cheer when the boy continued. “But I can’t.”

Ahsoka’s face fell. “Why not?” Maybe he was still annoyed but his plane, maybe he didn’t like that she made him apologize, maybe he thought  _ she  _ was mean and terrible. This was just great. The first person interested in playing a game with her and then she scares them away. This time, Ahsoka would cry and then  Plo would ask her what’s wrong and she’d tell him the truth and he would say something about how she’ll make friends someday but he kept saying that and it never happened, and Ahsoka just wanted someone her age to play with-

“I don’t know how to cartwheel,” he said simply.

Oh.

Ahsoka lifted her head and her troubles evaporated. That was something she could fix.

She grabbed the boy by the arm and, despite his protests, dragged him over to the other side of the sidewalk where there was more space on the grass.

“To do a cartwheel you step like this-” She showed him the proper foot work. “-you raise your hands like this-” She lifted them above her head. “- and then you just do this!” 

She cartwheeled onto her left hand and ended the cartwheel with her hands in the air. She looked back at the boy. “Got it?”

While he certainly did not look as if he “got it”, he nodded and said, “Yeah, I got it down.” He raised his hands like Ahsoka did and stepped forward to lean onto his left hand and then collapsed onto the ground.

Ahsoka leaned over and looked down at the boy upside down. He looked up at her with a sheepish grin on his face. Ahsoka thought it looked goofy from upside down. “I’m Anakin.”

Ahsoka walked around him and helped him to his feet. “I’m Ahsoka.”

Anakin scratched the back of his neck. “Can you show me how to do it again? And go slower?”

Her smile shined as bright as the sun. Ahsoka could tell that this was going to be the best hopscotch game of her life. 

**Author's Note:**

> hey so this is the first thing i've ever posted ever. i'm new to the site and learning along the way so please don't hate me and if you do, just send me a cordial message explaining why. feel free to leave a comment or some kudos. hope your day is going well!!


End file.
